Results from previous studies investigating the association between fluid intake and urothelial cell carcinomas (UCC) are inconsistent. We evaluated this association among 233,236 subjects in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), who had adequate baseline information on water and total fluid intake. During a mean follow-up of 9.3 years, 513 first primary UCC occurred. At recruitment, habitual fluid intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. Multivariable hazard ratios were estimated using Cox regression stratified by age, sex and center and adjusted for energy intake, smoking status, duration of smoking and lifetime intensity of smoking. When using the lowest tertile of intake as reference, total fluid intake was not associated with risk of all UCC (HR 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.45, p-trend = 0.42) or with risk of prognostically high-risk UCC (HR 1.28; 95% CI 0.85-1.93, p-trend = 0.27) or prognostically low-risk UCC (HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.65-1.33, p-trend = 0.74). No associations were observed between risk of UCC and intake of water, coffee, tea and herbal tea and milk and other dairy beverages. For prognostically low-risk UCC suggestions of an inverse association with alcoholic beverages and of a positive association with soft drinks were seen. Increased risks were found for all UCC and prognostically low-risk UCC with higher intake of fruit and vegetable juices. In conclusion, total usual fluid intake is not associated with UCC risk in EPIC. The relationships observed for some fluids may be due to chance, but further investigation of the role of all types of fluid is warranted.

Cigarette smoking is an established risk factor for pancreatic cancer. However, prospective data for most European countries are lacking, and epidemiologic studies on exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in relation to pancreatic cancer risk are scarce. We examined the association of cigarette smoking and exposure to ETS with pancreatic cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). This analysis was based on 465,910 participants, including 524 first incident pancreatic cancer cases diagnosed after a median follow-up of 8.9 years. Estimates of risk were obtained by Cox proportional hazard models and adjusted for weight, height, and history of diabetes mellitus. An increased risk of pancreatic cancer was found for current cigarette smokers compared with never smokers (HR = 1.71, 95% Cl = 1.36 2.15), and risk increased with greater intensity and pack-years. Former cigarette smokers who quit for less than 5 years were at increased risk of pancreatic cancer (HR = 1.78, 95% Cl = 1.23-2.56), but risk was comparable to never smokers after quitting for 5 years or more. Pancreatic cancer risk was increased among never smokers daily exposed to ETS (for many hours) during childhood (HR = 2.61, 95% Cl = 0.96-7.10) and exposed to ETS at home and/or work (HR = 1.54, 95% Cl = 1.00-2.39). These results suggest that both active cigarette smoking, as well as exposure to ETS, is associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer and that risk is reduced to levels of never smokers within 5 years of quitting.

Studies assessing the effects of vitamin D or calcium intake on breast cancer risk have been inconclusive. Furthermore, few studies have evaluated them jointly. This study is the largest so far examining the association of dietary vitamin D and calcium intake with breast cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. During a mean follow-up of 8.8 yr, 7760 incident invasive breast cancer cases were identified among 319,985 women. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer risk. Comparing the highest with the lowest quintile of vitamin D intake, HR and 95% CI were 1.07 (0.87-1.32) and 1.02 (0.90-1.16) for pre- and postmenopausal women, respectively. The corresponding HR and 95% CIs for calcium intake were 0.98 (0.80-1.19) and 0.90 (0.79-1.02), respectively. For calcium intake in postmenopausal women, the test for trend was borderline statistically significant (P(trend) = 0.05). There was no significant interaction between vitamin D and calcium intake and cancer risk (P(interaction) = 0.57 and 0.22 in pre- and postmenopausal women, respectively). In this large prospective cohort, we found no evidence for an association between dietary vitamin D or calcium intake and breast cancer risk.

BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean dietary pattern is believed to protect against cancer, although evidence from cohort studies that have examined particular cancer sites is limited.OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the association between adherence to a relative Mediterranean diet (rMED) and incident gastric adenocarcinoma (GC) within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.DESIGN: The study included 485,044 subjects (144,577 men) aged 35-70 y from 10 European countries. At recruitment, dietary and lifestyle information was collected. An 18-unit rMED score, incorporating 9 key components of the Mediterranean diet, was used to estimate rMED adherence. The association between rMED and GC with respect to anatomic location (cardia and noncardia) and histologic types (diffuse and intestinal) was investigated. A calibration study in a subsample was used to control for dietary measurement error.RESULTS: After a mean follow-up of 8.9 y, 449 validated incident GC cases were identified and used in the analysis. After stratification by center and age and adjustment for recognized cancer risk factors, high compared with low rMED adherence was associated with a significant reduction in GC risk (hazard ratio: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.94). A 1-unit increase in the rMED score was associated with a decreased risk of GC of 5% (95% CI: 0.91, 0.99). There was no evidence of heterogeneity between different anatomic locations or histologic types. The calibrated results showed similar trends (overall hazard ratio for GC: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.89, 0.99).CONCLUSION: Greater adherence to an rMED is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of incident GC.

The worldwide incidence of gastric adenocarcinoma (GC) is lower in women than in men. Furthermore, cancer patients treated with estrogens have been reported to have a lower subsequent risk of GC. The authors conducted a prospective analysis of menstrual and reproductive factors, exogenous hormone use, and GC in 335,216 women from the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition, a cohort study of individuals aged 35-70 years from 10 European countries. After a mean follow-up of 8.7 years (through 2004), 181 women for whom complete exposure data were available developed GC. Adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. All statistical tests were 2-sided. Women who had ovariectomy had a 79% increased risk of GC (based on 25 cases) compared with women who did not (hazard ratio = 1.79, 95% confidence interval: 1.15, 2.78). Total cumulative years of menstrual cycling was inversely associated with GC risk (fifth vs. first quintile: hazard ratio = 0.55, 95% confidence interval: 0.31, 0.98; P(trend) = 0.06). No other reproductive factors analyzed were associated with risk of GC. The results of this analysis provide some support for the hypothesis that endogenous ovarian sex hormones lower GC incidence in women.

INTRODUCTION: Lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of malignant diseases of cells of the immune system. The best-established risk factors are related to dys-regulation of immune function, and evidence suggests that factors such as dietary or lifestyle habits may be involved in the etiology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), 849 lymphoma cases were identified in a median follow-up period of 6.4 years. Fruit and vegetable consumption was estimated from validated dietary questionnaires. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between fruit and vegetable intake with the risk of lymphomas overall and subentities. RESULTS: There was no overall association between total fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of lymphoma [hazard ratio (HR)=0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.78-1.15 comparing highest with lowest quartile]. However, the risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) tended to be lower in participants with a high intake of total vegetables (HR=0.49, 95% CI 0.23-1.02). CONCLUSION: In this large prospective study, an inverse associations between fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of lymphomas overall could not be confirmed. Associations with lymphoma subentities such as DLBCL warrant further investigation.

A genome-wide study performed in a Japanese population identified a strong association between SNP rs2294008 (Met1Thr) in the Prostate Stem Cell Antigen gene (PSCA) and diffuse-type gastric cancer (GC). This association was validated in different Asian populations, and, very recently, a study has been published in Caucasians. In this study, we analyzed the association between PSCA variation and GC risk in Caucasians from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Six tagSNPs covering the PSCA gene region were genotyped in 411 incident gastric adenocarcinoma cases and 1530 matched controls from a nested case-control study in the EPIC cohort. Associations were analyzed by unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex and country. The T allele of rs2294008 in PSCA was found to be a highly significant risk factor for GC (per allele OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.23-1.66, p-value = 6.5 × 10(-6) ), particularly of the noncardia-type (per allele OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.19-1.81, p-value = 3 × 10(-4) ). At contrast with previous studies, no significant differences were observed between the diffuse (per allele OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.20-1.96, p-value = 5 × 10(-4) ) and the intestinal (per allele OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.20-1.93, p-value = 5 × 10(-4) ) GC histological subtypes. Although rs12155758 and rs9297976 were also found associated with GC, this association appeared to be due to linkage disequilibrium with rs2294008. Haplotype analysis did not provide additional information. These results confirm the association between variation in the promoter region of PSCA and GC risk in Caucasians and also indicate that the rs2294008 variant is a similar risk factor for both the diffuse and intestinal-types of GC.

Endometrial cancer risk has been associated with reproductive factors (age at menarche, age at menopause, parity, age at first and last birth, time since last birth and use of oral contraceptives (OCs)]. However, these factors are closely interrelated and whether they act independently still requires clarification. We conducted a study to examine the association of menstrual and reproductive variables with the risk of endometrial cancer among the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Among the 302,618 women eligible for the study, 1,017 incident endometrial cancer cases were identified. A reduction in endometrial cancer risk was observed in women with late menarche, early menopause, past OC use, high parity and a shorter time since last full-term pregnancy (FTP). No association was observed for duration of breast feeding after adjustment for number of FTP or for abortion (spontaneous or induced). After mutual adjustment, late age at menarche, early age at menopause and duration of OC use showed similar risk reductions of 7-8% per year of menstrual life, whereas the decreased risk associated with cumulative duration of FTPs was stronger (22% per year). In conclusion, our findings confirmed a reduction in risk of endometrial cancer with factors associated with a lower cumulative exposure to estrogen and/or higher exposure to progesterone, such as increasing number of FTPs and shorter menstrual lifespan and, therefore, support an important role of hormonal mechanisms in endometrial carcinogenesis.

Lymphomas belong to the few cancer sites with increasing incidence over past decades, and only a few risk factors have been established. We explored the association between education and the incidence of lymphoma in the prospective EPIC study. Within 3,567,410 person-years of follow-up, 1,319 lymphoma cases [1,253 non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) and 66 Hodgkin lymphomas (HL)] were identified. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to examine the association between highest educational level (primary school or less, technical/professional school, secondary school, university) and lymphoma risk. Overall, no consistent associations between educational level and lymphoma risk were observed; however, associations were found for sub-groups of the cohort. We observed a higher risk of B-NHL (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.02-1.68; n = 583) in women with the highest education level (university) but not in men. Concerning sub-classes of B-NHL, a positive association between education and risk of B cell chronic lymphatic leukaemia (BCLL) was observed only in women. In both genders, the risk of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was significantly lower for subjects with university degree (HR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.27-0.79) versus lowest educational level. No association was found for HL. We could not confirm an overall consistent association of education and risk of HL or NHL in this large prospective study; although, education was positively related to the incidence of BCLL and B-NHL (in women) but inversely to incidence of DLBCL. Due to limited number of cases in sub-classes and the large number of comparisons, the possibility of chance findings can not be excluded.